Stanford men’s lacrosse coach Drew Virk recently unearthed an old San Francisco Examiner dated May 4, 1963. The story, written by Don Selby, tells of the sport of lacrosse making its debut on The Farm.

“Several young men down at Stanford are dashing about in football helmets and carrying sticks,” Selby wrote. “They aren’t gridders gone beserk; they’re playing lacrosse. Lacrosse? At Stanford?”

Believe it or not, 50 years later, lacrosse is still ticking at the school. Virk is marking the golden anniversary when Stanford hosts Cal in a match on April 27 at 1 p.m.

“It’s going to be a big party,” Virk said.

The milestone isn’t lost on current Stanford players.

“There is a lot of history with this program,” defender Malcolm McGregor said. “We’ve had a lot of support from the alumni and parents alike. We have something special going, having the opportunity to play high-level lacrosse at an elite university.”

Virk has an alumni list 650 names long. Former players and coaches will be present when the Cardinal entertains the Golden Bears.

A few of the Stanford players from the ’60s have confirmed they will be there: Bruce McPherson (’64), Toby Hayes (’64) and Dick Enersen (’68). The trio learned the game of lacrosse at Exeter High in New Hampshire before enrolling in Stanford.

Enersen, a resident of Sausalito, credits a man named Pete Faulkner for spreading interest in the sport on campus.

“Pete Faulkner was the Johnny Appleseed of lacrosse,” Enersen said. “He drove a white van and sold lacrosse sticks and gloves out of it. He wasn’t our coach and he never scrimmaged with us. He just loved the game. There was no economic benefit for him.”

The precursor to the Stanford lacrosse team was the Palo Alto Lacrosse Club, which consisted of mostly Stanford players, some of them graduate students.

“We had a three-time All-American from Harvard named Brady Watts,” Enersen said. “He was in the Stanford business school. He was an amazing player.”

Players wore hand-me-down football jerseys, scheduling games with whomever would play them. One of the first matches for Stanford was an excursion to Camp Pendleton in Southern California to play a Marine side.

“We had no financial support,” Enersen said. “We got whatever cars we could and drove down there.”

Enersen recalled a match at the University of Denver that was unorthodox, to say the least.

“We played on a boulevard on Fraternity Row,” Enersen said. “It was a big strip of grass, a little undersized. It was a great adventure.”

Peter Bijesse, head Stanford lacrosse coach from 1996 to 2001, resides in Pleasanton. Bijesse was instrumental in having teams from the West Coast Lacrosse League included in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association playoffs.

“My claim to fame is fighting for us to be in the playoffs,” Bijesse, who coached lacrosse at Cal for 15 years before arriving at Stanford. “We were paying money into the system, but weren’t allowed to be in the playoffs.”

Bijesse led Stanford to the MCLA title game in 2001, when it lost to Colorado State.

“I can’t remember the score, but we got creamed,” Bijesse said. “We were the only No. 15 seed to reach the title game.”

Bijesse has seen the growth for lacrosse over the years.

“Lacrosse has become so popular now,” Bijesse said. “Kids are playing it everywhere. There were 28 kids from California last year who went out of state to play Division I lacrosse.”

Men’s lacrosse is a club sport at Stanford, meaning the coaches and players have to create revenue to keep the program afloat. The fundraising effort usually involves a lot of phone calls and letter writing by the players to solicit contributions. Alumni monies are often the lifeline of the program.

Parents of players do their share of keeping the sport alive at Stanford. Sally Farr, mother of attacker Jack Farr, is the team mom. She is known for her elaborate tailgates and won’t pull any punches when the 50th anniversary celebration rolls around.

“My mom has done a lot to help transform our program, in terms of fundraising, marketing and helping our program grow to the next level,” Jack Farr said. “We have parents coming out from the East Coast every weekend, so it’s really becoming a big family event.”

Bijesse said much is owed to former coach James McGuire, who wasn’t afraid to open his pocketbook when asked.

“Whenever we needed money for anything, he’d write a check or get someone else to write one,” Bijesse said.

In Examiner story from 1963, Selby wrote that Faulkner rigged old football helmets to use as lacrosse helmets.

“There are 45 to 50 helmets available,” wrote Selby. “Most of these are football helmets to which Faulkner has attached the special wire faceguards, necessary protection against a faceful of stick.”

Fifty years of stick-in-the-face lacrosse has survived at Stanford. It is time to celebrate the milestone.